Thread: help with this question

I am given a string "Hello World!"
and an array, int[ ] scores = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8, 4,10};
the scores should corresponds to letters in the alphabet a=1, b=3,c=3 ........
this code should add the scores that correspond to the letters
characters that are not letters should count as 0
I need to print the string followed by the score of the String
also if the letter lands on a position divisible by 4, the score of that letter is doubled
as a hint it says to turn the String to lowercase
this is what I have but I might be doing it completely wrong
it compiles but then when it runs i get this message with a bunch of other lines that start with at:
java.lang.StringIndexOutOfBoundsException: String index out of range: 12

 
public class Question{
  public static void main(String args[] ){
 
    int count = 0;
    int b = 0;
    int[ ] scores = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8,4,10};
    String s = "Hello There!";
    s = s.toLowerCase();
    System.out.println(s);
    for(int i = 0; i<scores.length;i++)
    {
      for(int j =97; j<122; j++)
      {
        scores[i] = j;
        for(int k = 0; k<s.length();k++)
        {
          b = (int)(s.charAt(i));
          if( j == b)
          {
            if(k%4==0)
            {
              scores[i] = scores[i]*2;
            }
 
            count = count + scores[i];
          }
        }
      }
    }
 
 
 
    System.out.println( s + " " + count);
  }
}

sorry about the confusion. This is just one part of a whole big problem I have to do but assigning the letters to scores was something I was not sure how to do.
I tried doing this but I still get an out of bounds error
am i on the right track?

 
public class Question{
  public static void main(String args[] ){
 
    int count = 0;
    int[ ] score = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8,4,10};
    String s = "Hello There!";
    s = s.toLowerCase();
    System.out.println(s);
     for(int  i = 0; i<s.length();i++){
      int a = score[s.charAt(i) - 97] ;
      count= count + a;
    }
    System.out.println(s + " " + count);
 
 
  }
}

I still get an out of bounds error

The index into an array needs to be from 0 to the array's length-1.
The code needs to map the char values it gets into that range, for example: 'a' gives 0 and 'z' gives 25

You can do math with char variables and values: 'a' + 2 = 'c' or 'b' - 1 = 'a'

Don't do it all in one line of code. Break it up into steps
Validate the char
if valid compute the index
use the index

edit: better order (as per Greg)

I got it to count the String with non letters.
but when I add the if statement to try to double the value when the String is divisible by 4, it doesn't produce the correct answer
I do not get why. I am multiplying a*2 if the length of the String is divisible by 4 and a is the value of the letter that corresponds to the score in the array

this runs correctly without the condition

import java.util.*;
public class Question{
  public static void main(String args[] ){
 
    int count = 0;
    int[ ] score = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8,4,10};
    char[ ] alphabet = {'a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z'};
    String s = "Hello there!";
    s = s.toLowerCase();
    System.out.println(s);
    for(int  i = 0; i<s.length();i++)
    {
      if((Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))) == true)
      {
        int a = score[s.charAt(i) - 'a'];
       count= count + a;
      }
 
    }
 
 
    System.out.println(s + " " + count);
 
 
  }
}

here i add the condition and get the wrong answer*

 
import java.util.*;
public class Question{
  public static void main(String args[] ){
 
    int count = 0;
    int[ ] score = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8,4,10};
    char[ ] alphabet = {'a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z'};
    String s = "Hello There!";
    s = s.toLowerCase();
    System.out.println(s);
    for(int  i = 0; i<s.length();i++)
    {
// this tests to see if the symbol at the position of the String at i is a letter
      if((Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))) == true)
      {
        int a = score[s.charAt(i) - 'a'];        
 // this is to test if the length of the String is divisible  by 4 with remainder of 0
        if( s.length() % 4 == 0) 
       {
// if the above condition is true then multiply the score corresponding to the letter by 2        
        a = a*2;
        }
 
       count= count + a;
      }
 
    }
 
 
    System.out.println(s + " " + count);
 
 
  }
}

Please add some comments to the code describing what the statements are trying to do.
For example, what is this statement for:

if( s.length() % 4 == 0){

Why multiply by 2 if the String length is divisible by 4 inside of the for loop?

Most of the comments are redundant.

// this tests to see if the symbol at the position of the String at i is a letter
      if((Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))) == true)

Why do you care if the char is a letter?

What is the problem with the code now?
What does it print out now?
What do you want it to print?

if the string is "Hello There!,"
then this prints out:
hello there!,
hello there!, 16

but I want it to print out:
hello there!
hello there! 22

How is the value 22 computed? Can you show how it is is computed by doing it manually and typing in the values that would be added to the count?
Show it in two or more columns:
the char // the count

the letter is at a position of the String that is divisible by 4 (

Is that related to this code?

if( s.length() % 4 == 0){

Yes " the letter is at a position of the String that is divisible by 4 "
is related to this code

if( s.length() % 4 == 0){

String "Hello There!"
gets turned into "hello there!" via s = s.toLowerCase();

I'm not sure if this is what you were asking for

position of String             0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7   8   9  10  11
String                         h  e  l  l  o     t  h   e   r   e   !
Score                          4  1  1  1  1  0  1  4   1   1   1   0
*2 if pos divisible by 4       8           2            2
 
count: 8+1= 9  9+1=10  10+1=11  11+2=13  13+1=14  14+4=18  18+2=20  20+1=21  21+1=22
addition:          8+1+1+1+2+0+1+4+2+1+1+0 = 22

never mind as I was writing this to explain to you I noticed that I should be dividing by i not s.length().
Thanks!

 
import java.util.*;
public class Question{
  public static void main(String args[] ){
 
    int count = 0;
    int[ ] score = {1,3,3,2,1,4,2,4,1,8,5,1,3,1,1,3,10,1,1,1,1,4,4,8,4,10};
    char[ ] alphabet = {'a','b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o','p','q','r','s','t','u','v','w','x','y','z'};
    String s = "Hello There!";
    s = s.toLowerCase();
    System.out.println(s);
    for(int  i = 0; i<s.length();i++)
    {
      if((Character.isLetter(s.charAt(i))) == true)
      {
        int a = score[s.charAt(i) - 'a'];
        if( (i%4) == 0){
         a = a*2;
        }
 
       count= count + a;
      }
 
    }
 
 
    System.out.println(s + " " + count);
 
 
  }
}

Try debugging the code by adding println() statements to print out the values as they are computed so you can see where the code is going wrong.